Agile Outsourcing Methodology

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Agile Outsourcing Methodology

Over the years we have had opportunities to work with different methodologies, from the very formal like Waterfall, RUP and CMMi to the more agile like Scrum or Extreme Programming. Based on all this experience, we have optimized our project management methodology to provide the right mix of control, visibility and flexibility, while maintaining the best throughput possible.

Thanks to our location, most of our clients are in very close time zones allowing them to have a much more active role than they could if their vendor were located in a farther location.

If you currently outsource to a far-off location or if you have in the past, we invite you to compare this very agile development methodology we propose here to the rigid methodology you probably have to follow when using those vendors. We are confident you will see the value of using our near-shore outsourcing services from Argentina and Peru, instead.

Because software development is a highly interactive and iterative process, we have embraced several guidelines from Scrum, such as:

Sprint-based planning and deliveries

We recommend that all the features of the system should be broken down into short iterations or phases, which in Scrum are called sprints. A sprint can be as short as one week or as long as two months, depending on the complexity of the system, the technology and team preferences. Most often, we use 2 to 3 week sprints in our projects.

The system features are prioritized by the Client and allocated to the different sprints. When a sprint is about to start, the Team gets together with the Client to estimate each feature and perform more detailed planning than the one that was done at the beginning of the project.

During the sprint, the finishing date is never altered as well as the features that are to be included on the active sprint. If for any reason, there is not enough time for some features to be implemented, those features are then re-added to the Project Backlog, where all the features are kept for tracking.

Daily "scrums" or stand-up meetings

The development team has a stand-up meeting every work day where every team member will be asked what they did yesterday, what they will be doing today and if they have anything that is blocking them. This quick meeting lets the Team Lead know where things are and make sure problems are detected right away before they jeopardize the time lines. Since we believe in providing 100% visibility into the projects and the process in general, our clients are always welcome to participate in these daily meetings through web conference or phone conference.

Proper governance

Our experience has taught us that even the best performing Scrum teams still need to have proper project governance and Belatrix has established a set of proven processes that ensure projects stay on track and minimize surprises.